A man charged with the killing of his son today told the Central Criminal Court he had held his baby son by the feet and hit his head off a wall after evil spirits told him to "hit him, hit him".
Mr Yusif Ali Abdi (30) told court that he took 20-month old Nathan from his bed and killed him as the evil spirit 'Jinn' was telling him to "take him, take him, take him".
As the accused told the court how he killed Nathan, the toddler's mother Ms Amanda Bailey, Ms Abdi's estranged wife, broke down.
Mr Abdi said he felt he was "possessed" when he heard the voices. Questioned by defence counsel Mr Tom O'Connell SC he said: "I was like in somebody's else's body and I was just following the order...with the voice."
Asked with what he felt possessed, the accused replied: "By the spirit." He said the spirit, known by the Arabic name of "Jinn" was an evil spirit . He heard voices saying "hit him, hit him."
The accused, a Muslim, said he awoke at around 4 a.m. on the day of the killing for early morning prayer. After he heard the voices he went into the bedroom, where Nathan was sleeping beside his mother, and took him into the kitchen. "I was holding him with [my] hands on the [child's] feet."
Mr Abdi, originally from Somalia but now with an address at The Elms, College Road, Clane co Kildare, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Nathan Ali Abdi at College Road, Clane on 17th April 2001.